


four years absent

by childofthenight2035



Series: Put Your Glasses On [25]
Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Family Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26318371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofthenight2035/pseuds/childofthenight2035
Summary: “I don’t want to leave like this,” he says, “I’m sorry. I know that I shouldn’t have run away and I should have called or come to see you, but…I don’t know. I couldn’t find the courage to face you until now. So I’m sorry—”“Pass the remote.”
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Series: Put Your Glasses On [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685593
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	four years absent

**Author's Note:**

> this is about yoo youngjae in case it isnt clear and just a filler chapter, just a look into youngjae's backstory

Youngjae sits on the sofa next to his father. Both men have their eyes trained on the television, as if the afternoon news couldn’t be more interesting, but their minds are very much far from it. Youngjae sucks his cheeks in, desperately wishing Jaebeom was there with him, this is so awkward, why did he have to come home alone, it seemed like such a good idea at the time, isn’t Jaebeom the one supposed to talk him out of stupid ideas? 

He shifts slightly in place, but his father makes no sign that he’s even aware of Youngjae’s presence. He catches his sister-in-law’s eye and she gives him a sympathetic smile, waving him over to help her with the rice bowls she’s making for him to take back to Seoul. But he shakes his head. 

He needs to get this over with.

He remembers the day he first arrived, when he knocked on that door after four years. 

_”Youngjae?” His mother said incredulously when she opened the door. Immediately reaching out to check that he was real and not a figment of her imagination. The little shriek she let out hurt him, and her abrupt tears after that hurt him more. “Is it really you?”_

_And then he was pulled into her embrace and he didn’t even think he deserved to hug her back. “I’m sorry,” he kept saying over and over. “I’m sorry.”_

_But his mother didn’t seem to care as much as he expected that he’d run away and refused to maintain contact for four years—she seemed content enough to have him back at all. It made guilt tear at his insides. Over his mother’s head, he saw his sister-in-law and his niece come into the room—and he couldn’t believe how much the little girl had grown. She was only two when he left. Of course, Jaebeom had shown him pictures of them all when he visited home, but it still was a shock to see in person. Jaebeom had really been the only bridge he had with his family._

_”Youngjae, you’re back!” He let himself be gushed over by the two women. He found that his niece didn’t remember him—he couldn’t blame her, memories are fickle when young._

_Just then, his father walked in, wondering what the commotion was. Youngjae straightened up, fear shooting through him. Jaebeom told him before that his father wasn’t happy with him at all. And it must be true, because the man took one look at him, pursed his lips and walked right back out the way he’d come. His heart sank. He knew it was too much to ask that his whole family just forgive and forget what he’d done. But he still hoped._

_”He’ll come around,” his mother assured him, not letting go of him, afraid he might disappear again. “Don’t worry.”_

_”Where’s hyung?”_

_”He just left for work. Did you have any breakfast yet?”_

He breathes in deeply, the pain from his brother’s walloping still twinging a bit. He ‘s progressed to sitting in the same room as his father, at least, but he’s leaving in three days and he doesn’t want to leave like this. He needs to fix this somehow to achieve any peace of mind. 

“Appa?”

There’s no response. From his peripheral vision, he sees his sister glance over. 

“Appa?”

A grunt. He takes it that his father is listening.

“Um…I’m leaving on Sunday.”

Silence. He sighs.

“I don’t want to leave like this,” he adds, “I’m sorry.” Still silence, so he rambles on. “I know that I shouldn’t have run away and I should have called or come to see you, but…I don’t know. I couldn’t find the courage to face you until now. So I’m sorry—”

“Pass the remote.”

“—huh? Oh.” Youngjae reaches for the remote on the table and offers it cautiously to his father, who grabs it without looking at him and switches between channels. He doesn’t know what to say now, so he sits there, simply waiting for his father to do something. 

He doesn’t register that anything is off until he hears the tell-tale intro music to the programme that he watches the most, Weekly Idol, and he looks up at the TV in surprise. His father never tolerated shows like that when he used to live there—it’s exactly time for broadcast. He turns to the other man, bewildered, and finds a small smile spreading across his face. 

“Appa….” He points to the television. “Why are you watching this?”

His father huffs. “If you don’t want to watch it, then just say it, I can change the channel.”

“Don’t act, abeoji,” his sister-in-law calls from where she sits at the dining table. “You’ve been watching the show ever since he left.” 

-

“Youngjae-yah, all ready to go? Did you pack enough food?” Jaebeom’s mother, practically his mother too by now, ushers him into her kitchen and sits him down. He can’t protest as she sets freshly made dishes in front of him for lunch. 

“Yes, eomoni,” he drawls, a laugh bubbling out of his throat when she sits down beside him with her ‘let’s-gossip’ face on. 

“Yerin says they met Jaebeom’s _boyfriend_ ,” she says in a whisper, though no one else is around. “Is it true?”

He grins, eager to snitch, but disappointed that he doesn’t have much to go off about. “Yeah, it’s true. He definitely has a boyfriend.”

“Is he a good person?” she asks. “Polite, handsome?”

He picks up chopsticks, spears a piece of meat and pokes her mouth with it. “I haven’t met him yet, but I’ve seen pictures. He’s very handsome.”

“Why didn’t you meet him yet?” she chews through the food. “Jaebeommie didn’t introduce you to him? How rude.”

He sniggers, ready to call his best friend and tell him about it. “No, eomoni, Beommie didn’t want anyone to meet him until they were serious. But by then, I came home. I promise, I’ll make him introduce me to his boyfriend as soon as I get back.”

“Promise?” He nods solemnly. “Good, Yerin won’t tell me anything. Jaebeom must be threatening her to keep the secret.”

_Well, that is possible,_ Youngjae muses. _The guy is Yugyeom’s preschool teacher, after all. Should I tell her that? Nah. Let him do it himself._

“Yah, stop feeding _me_ , boy, you eat the food! And tell Jaebeom to bring his boyfriend here soon.”

“Yes, eomoni.”


End file.
